Unitary propelling handle and filter assembly for suction cleaners



Aug. 5, 1952 I J. E. VANCE UNITARY PROPELLING HANDLE AND FILTER ASSEMBLY FOR SUCTION CLEANERS 'iledJuly e, 1949 INVENTOH. Ja fifl E Vanna ATTOHNE Y.

Patented Aug. 5, 1952 UNITARY PROPELLING HANDLE AND FILTER ASSEMBLY FOR SUCTION CLEANERS John E. Vance, North Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover-Company, North Canton. Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application July 6, 1949 Seri No. ,256

This invention relates to suction cleaners and more particularly to the propelling handle and filter construction and the novel relationship of their component. elements to one. another. j

Some of the principal objectives achieved by the present invention includes greater convenience, greater accessibility of the filter, reduction in the cost of manufacture, improved appearance, higher filter 'efi'iciency, and longer filter life. These and other advantages follow a rearrangement and simplification of parts as respects the propelling handle and the dirt filter together with its appurtenances. Another feature is the use of a pivoted motor-fan unit which pivots with the handle and the filter assembly. A quickly detachable appearance covering not only encloses the paper filter and its fittings but a major portion of the operating handle greatly improving the over-all appearance and concealing unsightly joints,- fastenings, etc., thereby making it feasible to use parts with more economical surface finishes.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved suction cleaner.

Another object is the provision of a new unitary propelling handle and filter assembly.

A further object is theprovisionof a novel filter assembly employing an 'inexpensive filter which is protected'by the propelling handle and yet is easily-and conveniently accessible for removal in any position of the handle.

Still anotherobject is a suction cleaner handle and filter arrangement both of which are enclosed, at least in part, by a readily detachable appearance covering.

Another object is the provision of a suction cleaner in whicha pivotable mounting supports both the propelling handle and the filter thereby obviating the'need' for a' fiexible connectionibetween the filter and the body of the cleaner.

A still further'object is the provision of a new and simple appearance covering for the filter and a new mode of detachably securing the same inplace. 1

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved filter adapter and a simple mode of remova'bly attaching itito a suction cleaner.

Still anotheriobject is the "provision of an proved modeofsupporting a paper filter in place on a suctionlizleanerl These and other objects will become apparent "as consideratiorris given to'the' following specification taken in connection withthe' at tached drawings-inwhichr ure 1 3 is a" p r p tive opening.

6 Claims. (Cl.- 15-350) cleaner incorporating'the invention in its various aspects;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional viewthro'ugh the filter and propelling .handle construction;

and

Figure 3 is a sectional view along line 3 -3 on Figure 2.

As indicated.v shown as incorporated in a suction cleaner having a suction nozzle I0 communicating with upwardly and rearwardly extending, v laterally spaced passageways l, and [2. One passageway, as H, may be utilized as a belt'housing for the usual agitator journaled in the suction nozzle The *facing sides of passageways II and I2 areprovided with airtight annular bearings for a semicylindricalhousing l3 enclosing a motor-fan unit extending transversely of the cleaner parallel to the suction nozzle. The motor-Ian unit maybe of'jany desiredtype well known in the m." Preferably, however, the fan eye communicates with the air passage l2 through the annular bearing at'thatend of the casing [3 in' accordance'with known practice. The motor shaft extends into passage H and carries a beltpulley to drive the agitator.

The cleaner body is mounted upon a carriage [4 having upwardly extending brackets I5 journaled about the same bearing and pivot point as housing l3. Carriage I4 is provided with front carrier wheels l6 and rear Wheels I1.

As best illustrated in Figure 2 a tubular propelling handle is detachably secured to the lower rear corner of housing I 3, as by screw 19. The upper end of the handle is bent upwardly at 20 and then .rearwardly in a plane parallel to the top side of housing [3. The outermost end of the handle is provided. Withthe usual operating grip 2|. Intermediate bend 20 and grip 2| is a mounting fo r an; electric control switch 22 and the strain relief 23 for the service cord.

From the foregoing it will be clear that the propelling handle is rigidly secured to the lower, rear corner ofthel housing [3 for the pivotally mounted motor-fanunit and that the housing rotates with" the handle as the'latter pivots in in Figure 1,: the invention is ever, as illustrated, a generally square shape is used conforming to the contour of the appearance covering and of housing I3. Thus, when inflated, it substantially occupies the entire crosssectional area enclosed by the appearance bag.

The lower end of the filter is tailored to form a neck of reduced. cross-section. The neck may be reinforced by a paper wrapping or otherwise and is designed to telescope over the outer end of a combined adapter tube and dirt trap 26. The outer end of tube 26, which is located within the filter, may carry a self-closing valveZ-l-of paper, rubber, plastic or other like material thenonoperating position of which is that. indicated in, Figure 2. The rear portion of-tubezt and valve;

2! prevent dirt and foreign material from falling back into the adapter and the cleaner body when the cleaner is not operating; When the cleaner is operating, however, the exhaust/air pressure will force valve. 21 to its extended open position allowing. the: dirt-laden. air stream. to pass through it freely. Dirt separatedjbylthe filter fallsdownwardly about the exterior of tube 28 where itremains trapped until. the. filteris removed from the adapter tube and the bag. is emptied The lower end of tube 26 carries radially extending flange 28. Thelower. sideof this flange fits behind'retaining tabs 29- -29 which hold the adaptertube 26- firmly seated in register with the fan exhaust passageway 30 located in. housing l3. The top side of flange 28 is adapted to be detachably held in place by a single selflocking, spring biased latch 31 mounted on housingl3. The latch is provided with an operating lug 32 conveniently-located for manual operation either byhand or byfoot pressure to. re lease the adapter tube and-permitits easy removal from or replacement on the. cleaner.

In order tohold the filter securely in place on tube 26 in an airtight manner it is preferred to use a spring clamping ring 33. Clamping ring spring 33 is held tightly compressed against the filter neck to-lockit in place on tube 26 by means of a snap-acting'toggle' clamp 35 pivotally supported at 35 on the adapter tube. Clamp 35 and spring 33 opento release the filter neck when the thumb pieceof clamp 35 is pivoted upwardly away'from the tube.

The topof the filter bag is. folded over-and held closedbymeans of a clamping device such as spring'clamp 31 which; is held closed when its operating handle. 38 is in the position shown in Figure 2; Pivoting handle 38 upwardly allows clamp to. expand so that it may be removed from the filter. A light tension spring39 extends betweenthe clamp and. a hook w secured to the bent portion20 of the operating. handle to main tain the walls of the filter taut. It will thus be clear that the lower end of. the bag is supported rigidly with the-handle and housing I 3 by means of the adapter fitting 26- while its upper end is resiliently connected to the cleaner handle by spring 39 and'hook 40'. Since the' handle pivots with housing I3, it will be evident that no flexing of the filter ever occurs as aresult of movement I of thecleaner handle in cleaning a carpet.

To furtherprotectthe filter as well as to conceal it along with adjacent portions of the operating handle and the.- adapter fitting, use is made of an appearance covering generally indicated at M. This covering may be of cloth, perforated plastic material or any other flexible porous material presentinga neat external appearance. The cover is so designed that. itmay be very easily and readily secured in place or detached to permit convenient access and removal of the filter. As shown, this is accomplished by a plurality of snap fasteners 42, a pair of which are shown as located at the bottom of the covering and another pair at the top of the handle 18. The vertical edge of the covering-perfectly overlies the upper, mid-portion of filter 24 althoughthe opening edge may be located at an upper corner or to one side of the filter. A hook 43 on the lower edge of the opening interlocks with a hook on housing I3 while a similar spring biased hook 45 serves to secure the upper corner to the cleaner handle. As shown, the vertical edge of the bag is stifiened: by a. full length rod running from hook 43to. hook; 44. This rod may be omitted if desired, The spring bias operates to place both hook 43 and hook 44 under tension thereby insuring. that the hooks will remain firmly in place during use of the cleaner.

As. will. be noted from. Figure 2 the'appearance. bag, closesnot; only the-filter. but. the entire mid-portionof. the, cleaner; handle. For. this reasonitisunnecessary to.plac.e ane'xpensivesure facefinish'on the. enclosed. portion of the handle nor. on any of, the. other, partslocated within the appearance covering. i I f Housing l 3. provides. a suitable form for both supporting. .and shaping the. lower endof the appearance covering.v A formingwire. 65 is supported by the upper end: of the handleat a point beneath the appearance. covering, and. is shaped tounderlie and support-the upper endof the appearance covering so-that its cross-sectional contour will. also. conformto that of its lower end, or to any other pleasingshape.

- Operation.

The operation of the invention will be selfevident from theforegoing description. When assembled as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the cleaner may be operated to cleanafioor covering in the usual manner. The-air stream passes upthrough the nozzle, through passage l2 and the hollow pivot bearing for thehandle and motor-fan unit, through exhaust passageway 30, adapter tube 26, valve 21, and into filter bag 24. The separated dirt falls about the exterior of adapter tube 26 and is thereby effectively trapped against return to the fan chamber." Throughout the cleaning operation the filter 24 moves with the propelling handle Without flexing or without any change in the uniform tension maintained on its walls by spring 39. I

When it becomes necessaryto empty the filter, it is merely necessary to unfaste'n hook 44 located on the upper top side of thehandle at a point adjacent the grip. Hook'43 automatically unlatches, allowing the appearancecover to be unfolded to the under side of the handle. Spring 39 can then be unhooked from hook 4.0 as the operators foot presses latch 3| releasing the adapter together with the filter from the cleaner. The filter may then be taken to a place of dirt disposal and cleaned by removing clamp 37. from the top of'thebag'. 1

' R'eassembly of thefilterisextremely simple, it merely being necessary to-fitthe lower side of flange 28 of'the adapter tube behind hooks 29-29 and sna the top ofthe adapter .over latch 3|. Spring 39 is .then replaced as' the'. appearance cover is folded back-in place and hooks 43: and

itre-engaged.

From the foregoingfitwill be manifestthat the "present, invention provides a. suction cleaner which is unusually simple in construction-and operations: Not 'onlyr does the arrangement presenta new and unusual appearance, but the quickly detachable appearance covering is utilized in a unique manner to conceal the filter and its appurtenances as well as a major portion of the operating handle. Furthermore the appearance covering opens readily and quickly exposing all operating parts of the filter for convenient removal from the top side of the cleaner. Furthermore the arrangement is such that it is unimportant whether the handle is in its horizontal, inclined or vertical position as respects the-accessibility and convenience of detaching-or. replacing the filter. i v

-While I have shownandldescribed but. asi'ngle modification of my invention; 'it is to beunderstood that this modification is'to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to the particular structures shown and described, but to include all equivalent variations thereof except as limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a suction cleaner having a. wheel supported main body, a suction nozzle across the forward end of said body, a motor driven suction fan on said body rearwardly of said nozzle, conduit means for conducting air from said nozzle to the inlet of said fan, an exhaust air conduit for said fan, a filter adapter assembly mounted over the end of said exhaust air conduit, a tubular propelling handle rigidly supported on said exhaust air conduit and extending rearwardly therefrom in a plane spaced below said filter adapter, means for detachably securing the inlet of a paper filter over the discharge end of said filter adapter, a flexible appearance envelope enclosing said paper filter and the lower end of said handle from a point below the upper end of said 'paper filter, means for securing the upper end of said envelope about said handle and the lower end of the envelope about said filter adapter and said handle, and means for releasably closing said appearance envelope whereby the same may be opened to expose said paper filter and filter adapter from above for convenience in replacing a filter on said adapter without interference from said handle and said envelope.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the upper end of said tubular handle is curved upwardly and rearwardly to a, hand grip portion lying in the same general plane as the upper side of said filter adapter, and wherein the upper end of said appearance envelope is secured to said handle adjacent said curved portion thereof so that the lower end of said handle and at least a major part of said curved portion thereof is normally enclosed by said appearance envelope.

3. The combination with a suction cleaner having a wheel supported body provided with a suction nozzle extending across the forward end thereof, a motor driven suction fan mounted on said cleaner body, an exhaust air conduit having a discharge end projecting rearwardly from said body and in communication with the discharge side of said suction fan, suction air conduit means leading from said nozzle to the inlet of said suction fan, said suction conduit, said suction fan and said exhaust conduit cooperating to provide a continuous dirty air passageway and including a swivel connection constructed and arranged to permit the discharge end of said exhaust conduit to pivot in a vertical plane relative to? said cle'anerib'ody', "a"filte'r adapter for. :a paper'filter mountedacross the discharge end of said' exhaustcbnduit; a tubular cleaner propel-. ling handle rigidly secured-to said exhaust'conduit :and'extending rearwardly therefrom in a plane: underlying: "said adapter, manually operable: means fo'rrreleasably securing a paper filter bagito said adapter, an :appearance envelope enclosing;- the lower v-end of said handler. and said filter adapter and; forming an enclosure for said paper filterji=bag-,.jmeans=for-securing the upper end of usaidzenvlelope' about said handle at apoint above the top end of said paper filter, means for securing the lower end of said envelope-about said:exhaust.:conduitand the lower end of said handle, said envelope having anormally closed. opening? :extending longitudinally. 6 thereof. and positioned when opened to expose; said filter and filter adapter from the sides thereof opposite said handle. I

4. The combination with a suction cleaner having a wheel supported body, a tubular propelling handle pivotally connected to said cleaner, an air discharge conduit rigidly secured to said handle adjacent the lower end thereof so as to pivot with said handle, the discharge end of saidconduit being located above said handle in closely spaced relation thereto and being adapted to receive and seat the inlet of a paper filter bag thereover, clamping means for releasably clamping a filter inlet to said conduit in an air tight manner, flexible covering means forming an appearance envelope for enclosing said filter bag and the lower end of said handle, means for securing the lower end of said envelope to said discharge conduit below said filter inlet and the clamping means therefor, means,

for securing the upper end of said envelope about said handle at a point above the top end of said filter, reinforcing and shaping means cooperating with the upper end of said envelope and with said handle to hold the walls of the upper end of said envelope in a predetermined shape to provide an enclosure for said filter bag, said envelope having an opening extending longitudinally thereof, the securing means for at least one end of said envelope being readily releasable to expose said filter and the clamping means therefor from the side thereof opposite said handle whereby, when said handle is in an inclined position, opening of said envelope permits said filter to be readily removed and replaced from a position overlying said handle and without interference therefrom and whereby, when said envelope is closed, both said filter and the major portion of said handle are concealed from view.

5. The combination with a suction cleaner having a wheel supported main body, of a unitary propelling handle and power unit assembly pivotally connected to said body for pivotal movement with respect thereto about a horizontal axis extending transversely of said body, a motor driven suction fan within the lower end of said assembly operating about the aforesaid horizontal axis and having an inlet opening surrounding said axis, an air exhaust conduit projecting rearwardly from said fan, a tubular propelling handle secured to the lower rear side of said conduit, the upper end of said handle being generally parallel to but offset vertically from the lower end thereof to provide an unobstructed space for a filter bag overlying the lower end of said handle, a filter adapter extending generally parallel to said handle and mounted over the end of said exhaust conduit, clamping means for se- 7 curing. the inlet: eridrof-iazpaper filter upon said adapter,v a fiexiblei appearance envelopez'surrounding the lower 1 end OfgSaid. handle and? (:0- operating therewith and with said eXh'austffconduit. to form an enclosure-'for 's'ai'd adapter and said filter'bag, means. for securing the upper end of said envelope about. said handle a'tpaipoir'it above .the upper end 0f "said filter, said envelope having an opening extendingdengthwise thereof, and releasablemeans for'securing the lower end of said envelope to sai'd exhaust conduit whereby said T envelope; member opened I 'to exposesaid adapter and said filter from a 'point overlying saidhandle.

6; The combination defined in claim 5 wherein said filter adapter is. readily detachable from said exhaiist V coiidu'itand means for normally locking sai'dadapteri plaee onsaid exhaust conduit Number Name 7 Date" 1,914,370 Hutchinson 'June 20, 1933 2,175,640 Replogle' i Oct; 10,1939 2,175,642 Replogle 0017.10,.1939 2,177,969 Welles Oct. 31,1939 2,223,353

Deniaree n -1 Dec'. 3, 1940 

